Japanese Food

It might be hard to imagine now, but Japanese food was once a rarity and luxury in Pontianak. When I was in high school, my friend Eday introduced me to shabu-shabu (Japanese hotpot) and we had it at, of all places, the Italian restaurant. If I remember correctly, it was less than IDR 50K in 1997. Probably it was around 30K which, if we calculated the inflation, was equal to IDR 214K in 2019. That was a lot of money then!

Thanks to the initial experience I had, I always thought Japanese food was so expensive that I was barely able to afford it. When I was working in Jakarta, I remember that one of the happiest moments was when we had Hoka-Hoka Bento for lunch during company events (note: bento is basically a lunchbox). Also known as HokBen as Indonesians like to shorten anything into acronyms, it was easily the most popular Japanese food in early 2000s, best eaten when it was free, haha. Then, when I had extra money, I'd go to Hanamasa with my colleagues Rusli and Indra for yakiniku (grilled meat) and shabu-shabu. Hanamasa was a restaurant with all-you-can-eat concept and it offered appetizers, main course, side dish and dessert for a fixed price per person.

Linda and her plates of sushi.

My first plate of sushi (vinegared rice topped with other ingredients) came much later on, probably some time in 2006. I just came to Singapore and was living on a tight budget. For a reason that I can't remember now, my friend Jimmy and I were at Changi Airport. That's when he brought me to Sakae Sushi. Just like a child, I was impressed by the conveyor belt. I mean, it kept moving, bringing food to people sitting next to it! How amazing! 

Back to the sushi itself, yes, I liked it immediately, but I had only three plates (and not even the red plate because that would be more expensive). I remember ordering makimono (rolled sushi wrapped in nori, thin sheets of seaweed) simply because there were six pieces in one plate, haha. Personally, I like inari sushi the most. Love the taste of its seasoned deep-fried tofu pocket! 

Now, some of people I know were hesitant to eat sushi because of its raw fish. The idea of swallowing raw seafood nauseated them. In all fairness, sushi is alright. I assume what they had in mind was actually sashimi, the fresh raw fish sliced into thin pieces and eaten with soy sauce. It tasted really good, but the thought of eating something raw might have deterred many from trying.

Sashimi at Sushi Tei.

I remember ordering sashimi for my sister-in-law as she never tried it before. After her college days in Nanning, she'd been quite adventurous and keen to try something new, so there we were, all looked at her as she took a slice of salmon with her chopsticks. I could tell from her expression that she was struggling to eat something that was subconsciously rejected by her brain. She smiled when she was done eating and she politely declined when I offered her to have some more. 

Ramen was a Japanese cuisine that I used to like back then, before 2014. From time to time, my friend Bernard and I would go to Ajisen Ramen. The turning point was when I visited Tokyo with family. Throughout the visit, my daughter who was a picky eater would eat only ramen. As she was not yet two years old, she wasn't able to finish the whole bowl. I ended up eating ramen all the time until I became very sick of it! That's not to say that I wouldn't eat it at all, because ramen actually had a rich taste. In Fukuoka, my wife and I tried the famous Ichiran Ramen. The portion was just nice, not too much, and as Ichiran was specialised in serving tonkotsu (broth made from pork marrow) ramen, it tasted really delicious!

Tonkotsu ramen at Ichiran.

Talk about noodles, ramen was actually based on Chinese wheat noodles (this is probably the reason why ramen stalls also offer gyoza, the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese jiaozi). The real Japanese noodles were called soba (thin noodles) and udon (thick noodles). Both can be served in cold or hot dishes. Udon was rather chewy thanks to its texture, the odd feeling that I didn't really like. What's unique and worth trying is the cold dishes. It was only right for tourist to try out a bowl of chilled noodles in Japan! Both the dried and soup versions were quite enjoyable. My personal favorite? Omusoba, the stir-fried soba (or yakisoba) wrapped in omelette! Like the sweet taste of it. One last thing, when I was in Tokyo, I noticed that ramen stalls didn't sell soba and udon. It was the same for soba and udon stalls. They also didn't sell ramen. Coincidence?

If you preferred rice, donburi (a bowl of rice and meat) would be a good choice. When Dad and I visited Japan, we'd go to Yoshinoya for a quick and cheap breakfast or lunch. Their gyūdon, literally translated as beef bowl, was suitable for our taste. Another variety that I also liked was tendon. It was a bowl of rice served with tempura, the battered and deep-fried vegetables and seafood. Another alternative that we'd go for was the Japanese curry rice. Dad and I used to frequent this restaurant called CoCo Ichibanya in every city we visited. 

That's all for Japanese cuisines at a glance. If you explored further, you'd found a lot of goodness in chicken katsu, chicken teriyaki, okonomiyaki, chawanmushi and many more! One interesting fact that I observed was the excellent quality of Japanese food, regardless how obscure the eatery was. Even the neighbourhood ramen stall next to Mitsui Garden Hotel in Tokyo served a very good ramen. I came to a conclusion that the Japanese must be very proud and meticulous when it comes to their cuisines. But by the end of a long holiday in Japan, there was only so much Japanese food that we could eat. When Dad and I visited the Chinatown in Yokohama, we immediately stepped into the chicken rice restaurant. The food was terrible, alright, but it was still a relief! Finally we could eat something that our stomach had been longing for!

Japanese curry rice.

Masakan Jepang

Walau mungkin terdengar janggal sekarang, pernah ada suatu masa di mana makanan Jepang itu langka dan mahal di Pontianak. Saya mengenal masakan Jepang dari teman saya Eday. Di kala SMU, saya diajak makan shabu-shabu (daging dan sayur yang dimasak sendiri di dalam kuah kaldu yang mendidih) untuk pertama kalinya, tapi bukan di restoran Jepang, melainkan di restoran yang bernama Italian di Jalan Nusa Indah. Harga per orang pada tahun 1997 itu di bawah 50 ribu rupiah, mungkin sekitar 30 ribu, yang bila dihitung kembali berdasarkan inflasi, berarti seharga 214 ribu rupiah di tahun 2019. Jadi shabu-shabu ini jelas tergolong mahal untuk disantap oleh anak SMU! 

Berdasarkan pengalaman tersebut, saya selalu merasa bahwa masakan Jepang itu terlalu mahal untuk saya nikmati. Ketika saya bekerja di Jakarta, adalah suatu kegembiraan tersendiri bilamana perusahaan mengadakan rapat dan menyajikan Hoka-Hoka Bento sebagai makan siang (bento itu bisa diartikan sebagai bekal makan siang dalam wadah kotak). HokBen, nama singkatan yang sering dipakai orang Jakarta, adalah makanan Jepang yang populer di awal tahun 2000an, paling enak dimakan saat gratis, haha. Kemudian, bilamana saya memiliki uang lebih, saya akan ke Hanamasa bersama kolega saya Rusli dan Indra untuk bersantai sambil menyantap yakiniku (daging panggang) dan shabu-shabu. Restoran ini memiliki konsep all-you-can-eat. Setelah membayar harga pas per orang, kita bisa mencicipi hidangan pembuka, hidangan utama, hidangan sampingan dan pencuci mulut.

Rusli dan Indra di Hanamasa Gajah Mada Plaza. 

Sushi, gumpalan nasi yang dibasuh cuka dan disajikan bersama seiris bahan makanan lain, pertama kali saya santap di tahun 2006. Saat itu saya baru saja pindah ke Singapura untuk mencari kerja dan tabungan saya sangat terbatas. Suatu ketika di Bandara Changi, teman saya Jimmy mengajak saya makan di Sakae Sushi. Saya ingat betul bahwa saya terpana melihat ban berjalan yang membawa piring demi piring sushi ke pengunjung yang duduk di sampingnya. Canggih betul! Menakjubkan! Saya tidak pernah melihat yang seperti ini sebelumnya! Saya sendiri hanya berani mengambil tiga piring (dan saya hindari piring berwarna merah karena lebih mahal harganya). Saya ingat bahwa salah satu sushi yang saya ambil adalah makimono (sushi gulung berisi telur) karena ada enam biji sushi per piring, haha. Secara pribadi, saya paling suka makan inari sushi. Kulit tahunya yang manis sangat sedap!  

Beberapa orang yang saya kenal pernah bercerita bahwa mereka tidak menyukai sushi karena kandungan ikan mentah membuat mereka merasa mual. Sebetulnya aroma ikan mentah tidaklah terasa saat kita menyantap sushi. Saya rasa yang mereka maksudkan adalah sashimi, irisan daging ikan yang disajikan secara mentah, segar dan dingin, yang biasanya dimakan dengan kecap. Rasanya enak, tapi kesan geli untuk menyantap daging mentah membuat orang enggan untuk mencoba.

Sashimi di Shiro, Hong Kong.

Saya ingat ketika saya memesan sashimi untuk adik ipar saya. Setelah melewati masa kuliah di Nanning, dia tergolong berani untuk mencoba makanan baru, jadi saya pun mengamati reaksinya saat ia menjepit seiris daging salmon dengan sumpitnya. Saya bisa melihat bahwa dia berusaha untuk menelan sesuatu yang ditolak oleh alam bawah sadarnya. Dia tersenyum setelah usai mencicipi sashimi dan dengan sopan mempersilahkan saya untuk menghabiskan sashimi yang tersisa.  

Ramen cukup saya sukai dulu, sebelum tahun 2014. Dari waktu ke waktu, teman saya Bernard dan saya akan singgah dan makan di Ajisen Ramen. Titik baliknya adalah ketika saya mengunjungi Tokyo bersama keluarga. Sepanjang liburan, anak saya yang pemilih dalam soal makanan hanya mau menyantap ramen. Saat itu dia belum genap berusia dua tahun, jadi porsi makannya pun terbatas dan saya senantiasa menghabiskan ramen yang tersisa sampai saya merasa ampun dan jera! Meskipun demikian, ramen itu sebetulnya enak. Sewaktu berada di Fukuoka, saya dan istri mencoba Ichiran Ramen yang terkenal. Porsinya pas dan Ichiran terkenal dengan tonkotsu (kuah kaldu dari sumsum babi) ramennya, rasanya benar-benar lezat.

Omusoba di Don Don Donki.

Bicara soal mie, ramen sebenarnya berbahan dasar mie Cina (mungkin karena alasan yang sama pula restoran ramen biasanya juga menjual gyoza yang merupakan adaptasi dari pangsit Cina). Mie Jepang  yang sesungguhnya disebut soba (mie tipis) dan udon (mie tebal). Dua-duanya bisa disajikan dalam bentuk dingin dan panas. Udon agak kenyal dan tidak begitu saya sukai, namun unik dan layak dicoba saat disajikan sebagai mie dingin, baik yang kering maupun yang sup. Kalau soba, yang saya sukai adalah omusoba, soba goreng (alias yakisoba) yang dibungkus dengan telur goreng. Saya senang rasanya yang manis. Oh ya, sewaktu di Tokyo, saya perhatikan bahwa kedai ramen tidak menjual soba dan udon. Begitu juga sebaliknya. Toko udon dan soba tidak menjual ramen. Kebetulan? 

Jika anda tipe yang menyukai nasi, donburi (semangkok nasi dan daging) akan merupakan pilihan yang tepat untuk anda. Ketika Papa dan saya mengunjungi Jepang, kita sering mampir ke Yoshinoya untuk makan pagi dan siang yang murah dan cepat saji. Gyūdon yang artinya mangkok daging nasi dan daging sapi, cocok dengan selera. Variasi lain yang juga saya sukai adalah tendon, semangkok nasi yang disertai tempura, gorengan udang dan sayur. Alternatif lain yang kita sukai adalah nasi kari Jepang. Saya ingat bahwa kita selalu makan di CoCo Ichibanya di setiap kota yang kita kunjungi.

Tempura di Tendon Kohaku, Singapura.

Demikianlah cerita singkat tentang makanan Jepang. Bila anda gemar icip-icip, masih banyak lagi kelezatan makanan Jepang yang bisa anda jumpai lewat ayam katsu, okonomiyaki, chawanmushi dan lain-lain. Satu hal yang saya amati adalah kualitas cemerlang dari makanan Jepang, tidak peduli seberapa terpencil tempat makannya. Bahkan kedai ramen yang berada di jalan kecil di samping Mitsui Garden Hotel Tokyo juga menyediakan ramen yang sedap. Kendati begitu, setelah menjelajahi Jepang dari kota ke kota, rindu juga rasanya dengan makanan Cina. Tatkala Papa dan saya berjalan menyusuri Pecinan di Yokohama, kita langsung memasuki restoran yang menjual nasi ayam. Makanannya tidak enak, tapi lega rasanya bisa menikmati makanan Cina lagi!